Surging demand for frozen foods ushers in `deep freeze era`

Sales of frozen fish and fruit are surging at large discount stores in Korea, with more consumers also purchasing deep freezers on top of refrigerators and kimchi refrigerators.

Thus retail industry insiders say the country has ushered in the "deep freeze era" as more Koreans prefer foods that are cheaper and easier to store.

Frozen products are iced and stored when goods are produced in large quantities over the harvest season, and are sold throughout the year. So they are cheaper than ordinary fruits and fisheries that are affected by harvest and weather conditions.

Sales of frozen fruits soared 189 percent at the discount chain E-Mart last year from the previous year, and jumped 94 percent year-on-year from January to August this year. Sales of unfrozen domestic fruits expanded just 11.4 percent last year, and those of imported fruits grew 16.2 percent. Frozen blueberries, mangoes, strawberries, and persimmon are enjoying immense popularity.

The sales gap between frozen and refrigerated fish is widening at the discount chain Lotte Mart. The portion of frozen products in fisheries sales was 51.4 percent in 2010, exceeding that of refrigerated products for the first time. The share further rose to 62 percent this year.

The brisk sale of frozen foodstuffs has also boosted demand for deep freezers. Sales of deep freezers for homes increased 25.3 percent at E-Mart stores last year, and 38.2 percent from January to July this year. The average capacity of a deep freezer also increased from 120 liters to 240.

Seo Hyeok-joon, an electronic appliance buyer for E-Mart, said, “Most customers are in their 40s and 50s with a family of four or more members,” adding, “They often buy deep freezers to store food supplements, including red ginseng, as well as frozen foodstuffs though they already have refrigerators and kimchi refrigerators.”

Freezers are also evolving in tandem with this trend. In July, Samsung Electronics introduced the Ziepel T9000 with 551 liters of refrigerating space and 349 liters of freezing space, up 20 liters each for the respective sections. The company remodeled a North American-style freezer that comes with the refrigerating section in a two-door style. The deep freezing section is placed in the lower part in the form of large drawers.

Samsung said, “By considering the practice of Korean consumers of storing foodstuffs in small plastic bags, we`ve arranged deep freezer sections in the form of multiple shelves and small drawers,” adding, “The Chammat (good flavor) deep freezer section is designed to adjust temperatures by four levels ranging from minus 23 degrees to 2 degrees Celsius.”

yhkang@donga.com